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Those ever so dedicated journalists have found yet another weakness inherent in renewable energy systems: if you want solar energy after a heavy snowstorm, be prepared to shovel some snow! In Solar meets Polar, Kate Galbraith lets readers know that winter can disrupt renewable energy systems.

STOP THE PRESSES: Renewable energy has warts!

To be fair, this is somewhat unfair. Galbraith’s article actually can make interesting reading (although nothing new to this reader). The challenge before us: when was there a New York Times article focusing on challenges faced by people seeking to use polluting power sources? Or, talking about how having a propange generator at home could risk an explosion or emissions that might create a health threat to your children or …?

The reality is that all power systems have their warts, their benefits, their risks, their opportunities. We need to understand, more fully, these in balance to help guide our choices into the future. The NYTimes seems ready to come to the table with discussions of renewable energy’s warts in ways not seen with fossil fuel systems. Perhaps it is because of too many people’s naive desire to see a renewable energy system as THE SILVER BULLET. Perhaps it is because this is the “new thing”, needing to be taken down a peg. Perhaps ….

In any event, let’s take a look with the New York Times as Solar meets Polar, the problems of renewable energy in winter season because “Old Man Winter, it turns out, is no friend of renewable energy”.

This time of year, wind turbine blades ice up, biodiesel congeals in tanks and solar panels produce less power because there is not as much sun. And perhaps most irritating to the people who own them, the panels become covered with snow, rendering them useless even in bright winter sunshine.

Did you know that you could slip on the ice when trying to refuel your car or that ice could make electrical lines falls.

Note, however, that what is “most irritating” is not the drop in energy, but that snow can cover solar panels.

What is absurd is the concept that this is some form of shocking surprise, truly meriting a headline in the New York Times.

As concern has grown about global warming, many utilities and homeowners have been trying to shrink their emissions of carbon dioxide — their carbon footprints — by installing solar panels, wind turbines and even generators powered by tides or rivers. But for the moment, at least, the planet is still cold enough to deal nasty winter blows to some of this green machinery.

Hah, hah, hah. Those who invested in renewable energy systems really should be wishing for some more warming, shouldn’t they, so that they don’t have to deal with any nasty weather into the future.

In January 2007, a bus stalled in the middle of the night on Interstate 70 in the Colorado mountains. The culprit was a 20 percent biodiesel blend that congealed in the freezing weather, according to John Jones, the transit director for the bus line, Summit Stage. (Biodiesel is a diesel substitute, typically made from vegetable oil, that is used to displace some fossil fuels.)

The passengers got out of that situation intact, but Summit Stage, which serves ski resorts, now avoids biodiesel from November to March, and uses only a 5 percent blend in the summertime, when it can still get cold in the mountains. “We can’t have people sitting on buses freezing to death while we get out there trying to get them restarted,” Mr. Jones said.

Seems like Summit Stage, quite likely, wasn’t paying attention to its fuel supply prior to the freezing. From the Department of Energy’s Biodiesel: just the basics (pdf): “Although both biodiesel and conventional diesel fuel tend to gel or freeze in cold weather, biodiesel switches from the liquid state at higher temperatures than petroleum based diesel fuel.” Thus, something like a 100% biodiesel is risky in cold weather. Galbraith, however, evidently couldn’t be bothered with that new-fangled device, “the Google”, since it is easy to find that there are weatherization options for B20 (20% bio-diesel) that enable it to be used in all weather. “B20 can be treated for winter use, in similar ways that No. 2 diesel is treated. Using B20 throughout the winter months just takes a little preparation and good fuel management practices.” Okay, so biodiesel isn’t as easy to use, without thinking, as any old fuel. But should the Times be so quickly spreading misinformation (via quotes, here) about the reality of the problem and solution sets?

Winter may pose even bigger safety hazards in the vicinity of wind turbines. Some observers say the machines can hurl chunks of ice as they rotate.

“It’s like you throw a plate out there and that plate breaks,” said Ralph Brokaw, a cattle rancher in southeast Wyoming who has 69 wind turbines on his property. When his turbines ice up, he stays out of the way.

Shucks, do you hang out under trees covered with ice? A question, to ask, has Mr. Brokaw had any cattle die or other damage from those turbines? And, is this need to “stay out of the way” when the turbines do ice up a serious problem in the face of the revenue he earns from them?

The wind industry admits that turbines can drop ice, like a lamppost or any tall structure. To ameliorate the hazard, some turbines are painted black to absorb sunlight and melt the ice faster.

Run in fear. The spinning turbines are flinging off ice.

How many have died from wind turbine ice flings? As opposed to, for example, the 10,000s who die prematurely each year due to respiratory problems from coal-fired electricity generation? Some context, please!

But Ron Stimmel, an expert on small wind turbines at the American Wind Energy Association, denies that the whirling blades tend to hurl icy javelins.

Large turbines turn off automatically as ice builds up, and small turbines will slow and stop because the ice prevents them from spinning — “just like a plane’s wing needs to be de-iced to fly,” Mr. Stimmel said.

Well, maybe there isn’t a problem. Is there?

Mr. Brokaw says that his turbines do turn off when they are too icy, but the danger sometimes comes right before the turbines shut down, after a wet, warm snow causes ice buildup.

Again, Mr Brokaw, how many dead cattle from wind turbine ice flings?

Hmmm …

From the standpoint of generating power, winter is actually good for wind turbines, because it is generally windier than summer. In Vermont, for example, Green Mountain Power, which operates a small wind farm in the southeastern part of the state, gets more than twice the monthly production in winter as in August.

Okay, we have an uncertain (if not near imaginery) threat from ice from wind turbines, without a single example of death or injury provided (to be honest, wouldn’t be surprised if they’d occurred, but it isn’t as if this article seems to think evidence is merited or required to insinuate a serious problem at hand), but fact that winter actually increases the amount of electricity coming from wind turbines.

Which, of course, provides a straight line to provide a problem.

The opposite is true, however, for solar power. Days are shorter and the sun is lower in the sky during the winter, ensuring less power production.

Stating the obvious. Duh … Shorter days mean less sun means less productivity of solar based systems. Okay, is that really beyond the comprehension of anyone ?

Even in northern California, with mild winters and little snow, solar panels can generate about half as much as in the summer, depending on how much they are tilted, according to Rob Erlichman, chief executive of Sunlight Electric, a San Francisco solar company.

Again, solar systems don’t produce as much when there is less sun and that sun is at a weaker angle.

Really, why not write about how solar systems don’t work very well for Santa Claus to power the elves in the workshop(s) in the busy weeks leading up to Christmas?

Operators of the electrical grid do not worry much about the seasonal swings, because the percentage of production from renewable energy is still so low — around 1 percent of the country’s power comes from wind, and less from solar panels. In addition, Americans use slightly less electricity in the winter than in the summer because air conditioners are not running. This is especially true in sunny areas, so solar panels’ peak production matches the spikes in demand.

There are many reasons not to be highly concerned about the seasonal swings.

But …

But as renewable energy becomes a bigger part of the nation’s power mix, the seasonable variability could become more of a problem.

Variability and intermittency are serious problems that do merit attention. But, what sort of attention? Serious issues like development of a national high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system for moving power efficiently around the nation, enhanced storage options and improved demand management through a smart grid, increased energy efficiency reducing the total power demand?

No … the issue meriting focus is on the concerns of renewable power developers.

Already, power developers are learning that they must make careful plans to avoid the worst impacts of ice and snow.

Trey Taylor, the president of Verdant Power, which has put small turbines in the tidal East River in New York City and plans more for the St. Lawrence River in Canada, said that ice chunks could slide over one another “like a deck of cards,” pushing ice below and harming turbines. That may rule out parts of otherwise promising sites like the Yukon River in Alaska, he said.

I’m shocked. Aren’t you? Ice can cause problems for hydro power systems, including ones that resemble wind turbines put under water. Shocked!

Kevin Devlin, the vice president for operations of Iberdrola Renewables, a wind developer, said that winter was probably the hardest time of year to maintain turbines, because workers must go out in snow and ice. Occasionally, he said, the turbines will shut down or set off alarms if it is too cold, and workers must brave the elements to fix them.

Would you guess that people driving propane around to customers might hate doing so in the snow and ice? Or that electrical line workers, for the most part, don’t crave going out in an ice storm to fix downed power lines? “Workers must brave the elements …”

For homeowners, the upkeep of their power sources can also be a bother.

This is a change. It is simple to simply flip the switch to turn on the lights or ignore the natural gas connection to you furnace. Moving toward a saner energy future will require all of us to actually think about our energy usage patterns and, in some cases, take personal responsibility for the management and “upkeep of [our] power sources”.

Mr. Stankevitz keeps his panels tilted 40 degrees or higher, but they still become covered with snow — and experts say that if even one cell in a panel is covered, the panel will not produce power.

Yup, that snow. Darn it that global warming isn’t moving fast enough such that snow won’t be able to cover the solar pv panels.

But it isn’t all doom and gloom.

On the other hand, the panels can get extra power from sunlight reflected off nearby snow. And like other electronic gear, solar panels work better when cold.

Mr. Stankevitz said that on some rare winter days, when the Minnesota sky is clear, the weather is freezing and the sun is shining brightly, his panels can briefly churn out more electricity than they were designed to produce, more than on the balmiest days of summer.

Even with fewer hours of sun, producing more power …

Now, considering the shallowness of this article, really have to wonder why there isn’t a mention that solar hot water systems can provide 100% of hot water needs in summer but might not get the water even to 90% on a cloudy winter day. What about the travels associated with chopping (think blisters) and carrying (including the chance for slipping on the ice) wood for the woodstoves heating many homes?

While it is hard to call this article “wrong” (even if it has problems, like the biodiesel example above), shallow and fundamentally uninformative seem a reasonable description.

Again, the reality is that all power systems have their warts, their benefits, their risks, their opportunities. We need to understand, more fully, these in balance to help guide our choices into the future.